Understand zoning codes when buying Ohio property

Cities in Ohio, including Toledo, have zoning laws that outline what types of buildings can go in specific areas. This is meant to help ensure that the residents and businesses have dedicated spaces that don’t infringe upon each other. While it is possible to have a zoning exception granted in some cases, it’s never a good idea to assume that this will happen when you’re looking at a property to purchase.

There are broad categories that are divided into subcategories. Therefore, you must ensure that you know exactly what’s allowed for a specific parcel. The broad categories include parks and open space, institutional campus, manufactured housing park, industrial, commercial and residential.

Most people won’t have to worry about the parks and open space or institutional campus designations. The commercial, manufactured housing park, industrial and residential categories are the ones that most people will be concerned with.

Under the commercial category, there are subcategories for neighborhood commercial, office commercial, mixed commercial-residential, storefront commercial, regional commercial and downtown commercial zoning. The industrial category includes limited industrial, general industrial and planned business/industrial park. Residential designations include single-dwelling, duplex, and multi-dwelling. The manufactured housing park category doesn’t have any subcategories.

It’s best to consider what you want to do with the property before you buy it so you can determine whether it falls in to the allowances of the zoning for the parcel. If your plan is close to the allowed use but a little off, you should find out of there is an exception possible. This is sometimes a complex process, so be sure you plan appropriately. An experienced attorney can provide valuable assistance.